Last night around midnight I noticed that there was a beautiful Halo around the moon.
I grabbed a few photos and some meteors may be seen too.
Note: I was mistaken thinking the green smudge was a meteor trail. I have been advised that this is simply a case of lens-flare. Oh well…
11 Photos
My Fermec 965 Backhoe Loader is showing wear in the backhoe bearings causing control to be sloppy and inconsistent. Original bearings cost over one thousand Euros – and with the poor exchange rates it was not an option.
I located an identical machine – a Case 595 Super LE which had been destroyed in a fire and purchased the entire assembly from the owner.
This machine had much less use than mine and I will simply swap the entire assembly over. The spare parts weigh 280kg.
After seeing how much ‘Skuggi’ my Labrador enjoyed himself in the sea, I could not resist joining him.
Today was overcast and warm, temperatures reached a whopping 15° C and the sea was quite warm, I believe the water temperature may have reached 6° to 8° – quite comfortable once I was in the water.
Must do this more often, afterwards I felt almost alive…8-)
If you visit my station, don´t forget your swimsuit.
I took my Labrador – ‘Skuggi’ to the beach. His name means ‘Shadow’. He enjoys swimming very much and he is without any doubt the strongest dog in the whole of Iceland and possibly the world.
The view from the shack never ceases to amaze me. This is the most beautiful place on this planet.
A new company has been formed to farm blue mussels in Arnarfjörður. I give them a base to operate from and eventually I will have more mussels than I can eat 
The first lines are being laid in the sea outside the shore of my farm.
I will add more photos as the work progresses.
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A young seal sunning itself on the Otradalur beach was caught on camera.
I was burning some rubbish as usual and managed to set fire to the dry grass. I attacked the fire with my 8 tonne Backhoe Loader but tt soon became clear that I could not manage to put out the fire by myself and I called the fire brigade.
The fire brigade arrived in record time, about 10 minutes, I am very impressed and grateful for the quick response.
The damage is minimal, but could have been very great if the fire had gotten out of hand. 50 thousand saplings and 200 hektares of grassland were at risk.
My cats visited today. They have been banished from the house after some “incidents” and live in the barn.
Two years ago my two cats, Brandur and Mýsla, behaved badly inside the house and were banished from the premises. Since then they have lived in the barn and existed on mice and the occasional meal from me during winter. They have become very reclusive and have not been seen for months on end. Today they honoured me with a visit and were treated with tuna from a can.
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The first Ground Source Heat Pump installed in Iceland is now operational in Otradalur.
The company Velaverk was in charge of the project which was also supported with a grant by Orkustofnun – National Energy Authority of Iceland .
The ground system uses 1 km of 32mm plastic pipe in the ground at an average depth of 2 meters. These pipes are filled with an ethylene glycol mixture which will not freeze above -15°C.
It is therefore possible to transfer heat from the ground even if the ground was frozen solid. This energy is used to heat up the house in Otradalur.
The Heat Pump is a single phase Viessmann Vitocal 200 with a heating capacity of 10 KW. Brochure .
An article about Heat Pump technology may be found here .
Ground breaking heat pump machine
The Vitocal 200 is the latest ground source heat pump to be introduced by Viessmann.
The unit has an output of 6.1kW to 9.7kW and flow temperatures up to 60°C, making it suitable for radiator systems as well as underfloor.
Brine and heating system pumps and the diverter valve are included, making installation more straightforward.
The model features a weather compensation tool, allowing the water temperature to follow the outside air
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